DISCLAIMER

I am not a medical professional. All recommendations made here are made based on study and personal experience, and are provided for informational purposes only. I assume no liability for any harm that may come from the use of these methods. Use this information at your own risk, or consult a medical professional.

September 6, 2012

Can laughter make you healthier? Experts say yes, and I can attest that it's true.

The world is in chaos, no one can doubt that. I stopped watching the news a long time ago, but I kept reading it online. As I read, I became more and more negative. My stress level was off the chart. I began to have terrible stress headaches that couldn't be abated with any type of over-the-counter medicine. I grew tired of feeling bad and being angry, and just wanted my happiness back. According to the AARP, studies find that "...the evidence is clear and compelling that [happiness] changes your odds of getting disease or dying young." I have lupus, so anything I can do to be healther and extend my life is worth the effort.

Make a Commitment to Positivity

Jolie Du Pre and I had started a group for new Yahoo! contributors, and we had decided to keep it as positive as possible. This wasn't easy sometimes, as we both have busy, often stressful lives, but we made that commitment and stuck to it. As time went by and the members got to know each other better, I started to see that they had great senses of humor.

Every morning, Jolie posted an inspirational quote and I posted a quote from an author. One day, I decided to switch it up and post something silly I had found on Pinterest. This daily silliness became very popular, as it either started everyone's day with a smile or gave them a laugh at some time during the day to dispell the dark clouds. Going to Pinterest and finding the images changed the way I started my day. I started following people's humor boards, and created one of my own. My day started out laughing my head off, and ultimately sharing those funny things on my own Facebook wall, because I thought everyone should start their day laughing.

Laughter Relieves Pain

Laughter is now my morning elixir. After spending an hour laughing, nothing much seems to bother me during the day. My mind is set to happiness, so the negative things I see don't bring me down. Can laughter make you healthier? Evidently it can. In a study at Oxford University

"...researchers found that those subjects that had recently experienced belly laughs were able to withstand up to 10% more pain than they had done before watching the videos."

I can attest that I now have fewer aches and pains and am able to take less pain medicine than before.

The old saying "laughter is the best medicine" is really true. The way you startyour day can change everything that happens after that. I will be starting out my day laughing from now on. I hope you will join me.